The Employment Situation, January 2014, and a Look Back to 2013

Fewer Older Workers Unemployed, More Out of the Labor Force

This and Related Reports

This AARP Public Policy Institute fact sheet looks at the January 2014 employment situation for the workforce aged 55 and older. Nonfarm payroll employment growth remained sluggish, with employment rising by an estimated 113,000 jobs.

The unemployment rate for the workforce aged 55 and older, which had risen in December, fell from 5.1 percent to 4.5 percent, a rate well below what it had been 1 year earlier (5.9 percent). The average duration of unemployment fell slightly to 44.1 weeks. However, the proportion of older people with jobs in January was little changed from December and lower than it was a year earlier.